Jeanette A. McNeill

Using Collaborative Research to Facilitate Student Learning

Developing research partnerships between academia and the service sector is an innovative way to meet the demand for high-quality, cost-effective, and clinically oriented research. Undergraduate student participation in clinical research is an educational strategy to facilitate positive mindsets toward research. This article outlines the methodological steps in recruiting and training undergraduate students for clinical research teams to benefit nurse educators, nurse researchers, students, and institutional partners. Student volunteers collected data for a study examining patient satisfaction with pain management practices. The research proposal was used to demonstrate principles of the research process and to familiarize the students with the study. A detailed study protocol guided the entire team through the project. Student sensitivity to pain assessment and management was enhanced. Learning the research process and the students’ appreciation for the rigors of research were reinforced using this experiential model. Student evaluation of the research experience is presented.

A multinational study of pain management among Hispanics: An evidence-based approach

A multinational project involving pain research teams from three countries examined pain management outcomes in Hispanics. The limited research on pain management outcomes in Hispanics are primarily from the USA, lacking the distinct multinational cultural influences. This article compares the descriptive analysis of the post-operative pain experience of Hispanics in the USA, Puerto Rico and Mexico and tests the reliability of a new Spanish language instrument, the Cuestionario de Houston Sobre el Dolor (Houston Pain Outcome Instrument, HPOI). There were similarities in expectations related to pain relief, proportion of patients reporting worst pain, usual pain and pain-related interference with function. Significant differences were found on adequacy of pain management. Participants reported high use of non-pharmacologic approaches, particularly prayer and family support. The newly developed instrument indicated acceptable reliability in all settings, Chronbach’s Alpha > 0.75, with some variability by study site. Further cross-ethnic and multinational research are needed to provide culturally relevant evidence-based practice models to overcome barriers and reduce disparity.

Perspectives on pain: A qualitative analysis of the Hispanic pain experience:

As a primarily subjective phenomenon, pain expression may vary among different populations. Patients from minority populations may be more likely to have poor pain management, less analgesia prescribed, and lower doses administered for their pain. To understand better the Hispanic pain experience, qualitative methods were used to gather data from postoperative adult Hispanic patients in both an urban and rural setting regarding their perspective and response to the pain experience. Descriptive qualitative analysis of interview data from a sample (n=35) of predominantly female, married and Catholic respondents, ranging in age from 23-80 years yielded five categories: Characteristics of the pain experience; Managing pain; Information about pain; Interactions with providers, and Cultural considerations. Several themes defined each category and were used in a larger study to develop a Spanish language instrument to measure pain outcomes. Descriptions of the categories and themes and implications for further research and clinical care are presented. For Hispanic populations, cultural issues having an impact on research regarding pain, such as simpatia (a striving for harmonious relationships without interpersonal conflict), respect, and family involvement, as well as problems with recruitment of minority patients to research studies, must be addressed to improve the effectiveness of pain management for this group.